UN Human Rights Council

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"the commission rejected a call by Havana for an investigation into alleged abuse of detainees at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention centre, which is on Cuban territory, drawing cries of "double standards" from Cuba and activists." Cuba again under question by this commision? Not the occupation of Iraq? Stinging rebuke for U.N. rights body swan song 22 Apr 2005 15:49:00 GMT Source: Reuters GENEVA, April 22 (Reuters) - United Nations human rights chief Louise Arbour delivered a stinging closing report to the U.N.'s top rights forum on Friday, saying the way it singled out just four states for rebuke was "not credible". Addressing the 53-state Commission on Human Rights at the end of its annual six-week session, Arbour said nobody could believe that only those four -- Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Belarus -- merited scrutiny by the Geneva-based body. "There is something fundamentally wrong with a system in which the question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world is answered by reference to just four states," the High Commissioner for Human Rights added. Israel was, as usual, singled out over alleged violations in the occupied territories, but it is not dealt with under the individual country section and Arbour did not include it. The former international war crimes prosecutor urged the commission quickly to take up one of the recommendations made by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his plan for reform of human rights' monitoring -- namely that the records of all states should be periodically reviewed. "I commend to you the concept of peer review ...The space is there, now, for its creation: the status quo on this issue is not a credible option," said Arbour, who was attending her first commission since her appointment last year. RADICAL CHANGE If Annan gets his way, the 61st session of the commission will be its last and it will make way under his reform plan for a slimmer and more credible Human Rights Council next year. Arbour has been among those questioning the workings of the commission, telling journalists she had initially feared it lacked "legitimacy and credibility," and finished up feeling "that the hypothesis is entirely justified". Rights activists said that decisions taken -- and those not taken -- over the past six weeks had underlined the need for radical change, despite some positive developments. "This year's session ... ended without addressing a number of the most disturbing human rights situations which afflict the world," the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement. Some activists were highly critical of what they saw as velvet glove treatment of Sudan: the commission condemned violence in the country's western Darfur region, but without specifically blaming government forces. While Cuba and the three other nations were again pilloried, the commission rejected a call by Havana for an investigation into alleged abuse of detainees at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention centre, which is on Cuban territory, drawing cries of "double standards" from Cuba and activists. Other areas of concern to activists, such as the Russian rebel region Chechnya and China's alleged mistreatment of some ethnic and religious minorities, were not debated. "The five permanent members of the (U.N.) Security Council are still untouchable. Regional blocs of states still protect some of the worst violators in their ranks," said Nick Howen, secretary-general of the International Commission of Jurists. On the positive side, activists applauded the decisions to name a special investigator for Nepal and to monitor counterterrorism measures and the activities of transnational corporations to ensure the latter meet ethical standards.